Teaching Dance

With the news of the passing of jazz dance legend Luigi , I dug up this online article I wrote 15 years ago about him. With a deep bow of reverence to the man and his contribution... Class with Luigi On the back cover of Luigi's Jazz Warm Up, movie star John Travolta says, "Luigi always defined Jazz dancing for me in the same unique form that Jack Cole did."  As I cut through Manhattan's Central Park on my way to Studio Maestro, where 75 year old jazz dance legend Luigi currently teaches, I am reminded of the movie Staying Alive - the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. In Staying Alive, John Travolta plays an ex-disco dancer who turns professional Broadway dancer. While the script and the acting of Staying Alive were poor (a tradition that has been carried on by other dance movies such as Showgirls and more recently, Center Stage), John Travolta, restrained to only a few small dance combinations and a loin cloth, looked surprisingly professional. As legend has it...

From the group cohesive value systems in Traditional tribal, folk, and social dance, individuals emerge with a desire to express themselves, displaying their prowess, in contrast to others--meeting the needs and motivations of the Gravesian Egoistic system. Here, the individual discovers what Graves calls the “awareness of self as a possibly powerful being separate and distinct from others.” This is found in courting dances, recreational dance studios, Ethnic dance, and entertainment or commercial dance. Courting dances, from those found in the rituals of traditional cultures to the pea-cocking behavior of contemporary college students dancing at the local bar, exhibit traditional Egoistic motivations. On a more personal level, I started dance classes at thirteen and enjoyed the camaraderie of my classmates more than anything else. I felt I belonged within the group. Over time, I began to gain confidence in my ability and wanted to explore how I could express my individual pr...

Day 2 of the conference began with an early breakfast/awards/business meeting. That was followed with a jazz class with Billy S. His dynamic energy comes out not only in his class but in the way that he talks and walks. Truly the only instance in my life where, with all seriousness, I can call someone a true “swingin’ cat.” Over lunch I did some work on my presentation and then found an Office Depot to reprint my handout. While checking out the white board setup in the space I will be presenting in I ran into Shirlene from Long Island School of the Arts. It has been about 10 years! She was great to work for and with and I get a kick out of how simultaneously both big and small the dance world is. I attended a panel discussion on collective/collaborative models of dance making. It brought up many questions for me about the modernist ‘one person/one vision’ company model versus the project-based model versus the collaborative and collective models. A couple of the panelists were tr...

Incredible first day at the conference--over 900 people in attendance. Saw my professor Kaye (from Akron U over 18 years ago) give a presentation with Brian (who I danced with in GroundWorks Dance Theater some 13 years ago). Took a master jazz class with a group of incredible, masterful teachers: Karen, Thom, Patricia and Darwin. They were truly inspiring...and, my friend Billy (also one of our great living master jazz dance teachers) was in class with me. Got to tap with Anita (I have used her book for years) in a workshop she presented on collaborating with a composer. Attended a presentation by Yo-el who I had danced with in one of the 5x5 Dance Festivals (can’t remember if it was a NYC or CT one). He teaches modern for Boston Ballet School and was there with a researcher who demonstrated (experientially) a way to use research in dance education--specifically in the classroom. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I met up with a whole group of jazz dance educators at the hot...

Today I celebrate a minor anniversary. No, I am not talking about Canada Day (even though it is, in fact, Canada Day). We are all accustomed to celebrating major anniversaries (like weddings or birthdays) but we seldom aknowledge the minor ones. And I don’t believe I am alone when I say that one thing the world could use is more celebrations! Right? Although, on second thought, I am tiring of all those graduations. I get college, high school, and maybe even middle school, but fifth grade, kindergarten, pre-school...come on already. Dance Teacher Anyways, today I share with you my personal minor anniversary. Today is the one year anniversary of my Jazz Dance Technique & Syllabus™ . It was exactly a year to the day that I launched my web site and began sharing the work, which I had been developing privately over a period of 14 years, with the public dance world. I had very modest goals for the first year, so I am thrilled that the syllabus has been adopted by schools in Italy, A...